Choreography Makau Foster Delcuvellerie

Dance performance Compagnie Tamaraki Poerani

Safeguard the ancestral knowhow of the « fenua » (homeland), such is the message of the “Tamariki Poerani” dance company's production of “Mono'i”, directed by choreographer Makau Foster Delcuvellerie. With the Mono'i, sacred Polynesian oil, rituals and traditions are transmitted and perpetuated. Sole owners of its secret, Polynesians have been using Mono'i  on a daily basis for thousands of years. Tamariki Poerani pays Mono'i a wonderful tribute with this show. Presented at the 2009 Heiva i Tahiti, “Mono'i” won 4 grand prizes: Best Aparima Vahine, Best Ote'a Tane, Best Vegetal Costume, Best Ute Arearea.

“Pofai te tiare” opened the “Mono'i” show. It's an “ote'a”, form of dancing accompanied by percussions: to'ere, fa'atete, tahiri parau and pahu tupai.

Mono'i in tahitian language
(Makau Foster Delcuvellerie)

Haatavai te vai nei
Haatavai raa, tei tupu na
Mai raro roamai, ite apurima ote fenua
Iau ito ivi na, ite aere vai, otou metua vahine
Ua rumirumi te vai, itou na, vai raa
Ua faamu te taura, e taamu iau ite pu fenua 
Ei hei manava nou, ite ao taata
Ei hei manava nou, ite ao fenua
Ei hei manava nou, ite ao ote aru 

Ea hara te tavai, ia tavai ia vai
E iho te tavai, iau nei te taata
E iho fenua teie, e vai nei
E aru fenua teie, e vai nei 

I hee te tua mai nei au, ite ao nei
Ua rave te fenua, itou puna
E tuu i raro ite tumu ote fenua
Ia pu fenua a tou
Ia pu fenua a te tama 

Te fenua e
No oe nei au itama ai
No oe nei au i noanoa ai te aru fenua
No oe nei au ireo ai No oe nei au...

Mono'i in english language
(Translation Makau Foster Delcuvellerie & Eric Delcuvellerie)

Mono'i for a birth
Mono'i to honour our ancestors
Sacred oil, born of the earth, foundation of our country
Like a child in his mother's belly
Massaged by the liquid around him
And fed though the umbilical cord.

This is the way the child is welcomed in the world of men
This is the way he is going to grow roots
This the way he will be born blessed

Why anoint? Because it's life.
Why anoint? Because it's a breath of life
Why our earth? Because it allows us to live
Why our earth? Because it is life

I came into this world covered in mono'i
My placenta went back to the ground to make it richer
These are my roots
My child's roots

My earth
Thanks to you I am here
Thanks to you I smell good
Thanks to you I am what I am

Sources : Marc E.Louvat

Credits

Tamariki Poerani
Choreography Makau Foster Delcuvellerie (Tamariki PoeraniCompany)
Video direction Patrick Mirakian  Editing Marc E. Louvat technical means Tahiti Nui Télévision
Production Tamariki Poerani / Atelier Tahiti Docs / Heiva Nui / TNTV
Produced in July 2009
Heiva i Tahiti 2009 was organized by Heiva Nui.

Updating : July 2011

Makau Foster Delcuvellerie spent the first years of her life on the atoll of Hao and was brought up, as customary in those days, by her grand parents. They were very simple folks who lived like their parents, and the parents of their parents before them, to the soothing rhythm of the islands, fishing and foraging. Then she had to go to Tahiti for school and to Hawai'i for a college education.

Whenever you start a conversation with her on that period of her life, she remembers the Paumotu (inhabitants of the Tuamotu islands) whom she says taught her everything and had been living in Hawai'i for the longest time, teaching young Hawaiians the traditions of the South Pacific Islands. Their classes were hard, very demanding for these youngsters who had been brought up according to the “American way of life”. She always seems to get a bit emotional when she talks about these moments. She remembers the pain of the long warm up training sessions when yours body does the talking and tells stories. She didn't learn in the books but from the oral tradition that allowed generations to preserve the knowledge of their ancestors.

« At the age of 16 I was already dancing on stage at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawai'i. For years I travelled the world extensively to dance and finally came back to Tahiti to keep on learning from Coco Hotahota, the famous choreographer and director of the “Temaeva” dance company. Then time came for me to start teaching “Ori Tahiti” (Tahitian dancing) and to create my own dance company Tamariki Poerani  ».

Since then the company has created various productions: "Munanui" (1999), "Merehenua" (2001), "Te ariki Tuohea" (2003), "Mokorea" (2004) et "Mono'i" (2009).
Choreographies by Makau Foster Delcuvellerie have been recreated by different “Ori Tahiti” dance companies in Japan, Mexico and the USA.

Source : The company Tamariki Poerani 's website

More information

tamarikipoerani.com

Patrick Mirakian is a young polynesian TV director, working for “Tahiti Nui Television”, the local TV channel. Asked by Marc E. Louvat, he was in charge of recording Tamariki Poerani's production of “Mono'i”, a piece by Makau Foster Delcuvellerie, during the 2009 Heiva i Tahiti.